The biggest concern surrounding the San Francisco 49ers' reunion with Robert Saleh is the possibility of him becoming the team's third consecutive one-and-done defensive coordinator. Constant turnover in leadership has disrupted continuity on the defensive side of the ball—a factor that may have contributed to the 49ers' mistake-riddled 2024 campaign.
If Saleh revitalizes the defense, he could again emerge as a top head coaching candidate in 2026, just as he was this year before returning to Santa Clara.
One 49ers insider believes the team is doing everything possible to encourage Saleh to stay beyond a single season. Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard reported that 49ers CEO Jed York personally got involved in the process, offering a top-of-the-market coordinator salary while working toward assurances that Kyle Shanahan's staff would remain stable moving forward.
"Basically, I think the 49ers' leaders — from York to Kyle Shanahan to John Lynch — are trying to set this up for Saleh to stay with the 49ers for more than one year," Kawakami wrote in a recent mailbag. "At the very least, they'll make it easy for Saleh to be very picky about the place and timing of his next job."
With financial security and deep-rooted respect within the 49ers organization, Saleh can afford to be selective about his next career move—an advantage few coaches get, considering most don't receive more than two head coaching opportunities.
Despite failing to land a head coaching role with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, or Dallas Cowboys—the three teams he interviewed with—Saleh still held significant leverage in discussions with the 49ers, who were willing to wait as long as needed for their desired candidate.
"And generally, because they need him so much and don't have an instant replacement (like they did with DeMeco Ryans back when Saleh left after the 2020 season), Saleh has more influence walking in the door now than he had at any point of his first stint here," Kawakami added.
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